Sawmill Day Planned at Huron City Museums

Published 10:38 am, Monday, April 25, 2016

HURON CITY  Huron City Museums host their annual Sawmill Day from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. on Aug. 20.

The main focus of this event is the coming of the shingle and saw mills. Wayne Lenton of Ubly is bringing his sawmill and edger and Loren Stein of Pigeon provides the shingle mill. George Hiller of Port Hope is the sawyer for this years event. Thanks go to Gil Tinsey, who helps to provide power for the mills with his tractor. All ash and oak lumber, along with any cedar shingles created at Sawmill Day, are for sale. The mills run from 10 a.m. until the logs run out!

The Fairbanks-Morse Z Model Horizontal Oil Engine will also be on display. This engine powered the water pump at Huron City from the 1920s through the 1950s. Neal and Arnold Hentschl will bring their steam engines.

Brian Bosch will be on the grounds with his early working phonographs and the Port Hope display continues in the McFadden House, along with videos for viewing. These include some home movies from the 1920s of the Pointe Aux Barques Life Saving Station, along with a video of William Lyon Phelps speaking during the Depression.

New this year will be a display by the Harbor Beach Coast Guard Station. They will be handing out boating safety information and have a boat available for viewing. The Coast Guard station, along with the Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse Society and Huron City Museums, are collecting donations to construct a memorial to the six Life Saving Station surfmen who perished in an 1880 rescue attempt. Anyone wishing to donate to this cause can contact any of the three groups for more information. A flag and flagpole, along with a bronze plaque, will be placed at the Harbor Beach station. The Life Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service were combined to form the Coast Guard in 1915.

Dave Thuemmel will bring his hand-turned wooden plates and bowls, while Kim Uridge of Uridge Refinishing in Port Hope, gives chair seat weaving demonstrations. Ed Deming is back this year with his chain saw sculptures and Young Woodworking will have a display. Eddie Kubacki will have some of his John Deere collection on display. Scott and Cindy Campbell from Campbell Wood Products will have their logging equipment parked on the grounds for visitors to see.

Pony and cart rides will be available for $2 from the Maplewood Farm and Petting Zoo, along with animals to pet. Polegas Produce will have both fruit and vegetables for sale and the parents of Girl Scout Troop 712 run the food concessions all day. Bratwursts and sodas, along with baked goods, will be available. Music is provided by the Eastern Michigan Music Makers, a local group led by Arlen Bannick of Bad Axe.

Funding for the event is provided from a grant awarded by the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, which is administered by the Huron County Economic Development Corporation. With a portion of these funds, two Thumb Area Transit buses will run from Huron City to Lighthouse County Park to Port Hope for A-B-C Day all day.

Workshop Wednesdays continue in September with pottery on Sept. 7 and woodcarving on Sept. 14. Please call early to reserve your spot. The fourth annual Poetry Reading will be on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 3 p.m. in the Huron City Church. Come and enjoy an afternoon of poetry.

The Huron City Museums are open from Thursday through Monday in August and weekends in September. Hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., with the last tour at 5 p.m. Please call (989) 428-4123 for more information or visit the Web site at www.HuronCityMuseums.org.